


a suitable arrangement

by unraelated



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Fake Marriage, Hints of Asexual Dimitri, M/M, Marriage for Legal Reasons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25416172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unraelated/pseuds/unraelated
Summary: Dimitri and Claude decide to marry in order to get around a few legal loopholes concerning both of their inheritances.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 19
Kudos: 194





	a suitable arrangement

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Amateur_Warden](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amateur_Warden/gifts).



> This is the last of my donation fics, for [Cale](https://twitter.com/amateur_bro)! Thank you so much for the continuous support!

“And here you go,” said the woman on the other side of the desk, sliding a form across the countertop and underneath the glass panel. “It’s all ready. Just sign it and bring it to that desk over there and we’ll get it filed.”

Dimitri touched the paper she offered him, sliding it further down the cheap laminate wood of the desk so he could lift it to inspect the fine print. There wasn’t much he could see that he disagreed with, and so he took the page back with him, toward the waiting area where Claude was sitting.

Claude looked elegant as ever, his soft shoulders unusually straight and eyes focused as he watched Dimitri return to him. He seemed apprehensive, uncomfortable in such a procedural space, and Dimitri took it on himself to try and set the other man at ease as he moved to sit next to him.

“Alright,” he started, offering Claude the paper, which he took and began to read over, his eyes flicking back and forth across the sheet. Dimitri let him look over it for a long few moments before speaking up again.

“We can wait, if you want. Give it a day or two. I’m -”

“You’re not hesitant at all?” Claude asked, cutting him off.

Dimitri found himself faltering at the interruption, collecting his thoughts before shaking his head quickly.

“...no. It’s - well, I’ve already told you. They won’t hand the household to me unless I can prove that I’m ready to start a family. That means… well, this.”

“Even though I’m a guy?” Claude seemed almost amused by this question, his eyebrow raised suspiciously. Dimitri could see that through his question he felt vulnerable, exposed. 

“Even though,” Dimitri promised, meeting his eyes in earnest. “My family has never cared about that sort of thing. But a single bachelor… well, my uncle thinks that the status poses a risk. And you need - um.”

He could tell that he was overstepping there, just to see the way that Claude’s gaze shifted away, the faint pinking on his cheeks. Dimitri tried to correct the course and reached out, touching the paper in Claude’s hands.

“...I’ve never had a romantic connection with anyone. I’m starting to doubt that I ever could. Don’t think of this as you taking anything from me - you’re giving me the opportunity to come into my own as the head of my household, as well as my father’s company.”

“I still think I’m getting a lot more out of this arrangement than you are.”

Dimitri found himself smiling absently just to look at him - just to hear him voice his concerns, to see how much thought that he’d put in this. Of course he wouldn’t go into something like this without thinking about all the options, of course he’d think about what both of them were getting out of this, as if it was some kind of transaction.

Well. It was, in a way.

“...if you want to break this off at any point, you can. If you fall in love with someone else or want to leave, or - or even just when you’re stable again. But until then - ah, I’m doing this all wrong, aren’t I?”

Dimitri laughed softly, shaking his head and glancing down the long hallway of the court registry office. True, as a child, he’d once considered lavish weddings: ornate affairs that were the talk of the town for weeks to come, with fine dining, elegant dancing, and of course, elaborate garments for all to see.

This… well, this was not like that. This was him helping out a friend from college with the most ridiculous scheme yet, but one that seemed far more complicated than it actually was.

Claude had been forcibly written out of his father’s will by his older brother, left penniless and alone on the streets of Fódlan. Without money to pay a lawyer to investigate and press charges, and without anything to his name, there was no way he could ever rise to the head of his own company again.

And Dimitri wanted to help, of course he did. But his family and company lawyers were very firm: _no business with competitors_. It was built into their contracts, and Claude no longer had money for a bribe to work around it.

So, they couldn’t legally help the now-disowned son of the competition… but, if Claude were part of the family, then they would be obligated to serve his needs and help him to straighten everything out.

The answer was simple - to Dimitri, anyway. Claude still seemed to have reservations.

Nevertheless, if he was going to do this, he supposed he should do it the correct way, and with a long glance down the hall to make sure that no one was coming through, Dimitri slid out of his chair.

The tile floor was clean, but cold and hard against his knee when he knelt on it, watching the way that it made Claude’s eyes go wide with recognition and shock. Still, he didn’t move away or tell Dimitri to stop, and so he continued with all the calm in the world.

“I mean this from the bottom of my heart: Claude von Riegan, will you marry me?”

And that made it real. This thing they’d been dancing around, discussing and working out their feelings for: this was a marriage. A union, and as much as Dimitri liked to pretend that it meant nothing, the weight of it was still overwhelming.

Dimitri fiddled with his hands, reaching up for his throat so that he could open the clasp of his necklace, a thin silver chain with a lion pendant on it, lengthy enough that it tended to rest just over his heart. A symbol from his family crest and the main logo of his father’s company, it was not quite a ring… but it would have to make do.

Once the chain was coiled in his hand, Dimitri offered it to Claude, who by now was beginning to recover from the shock of being proposed to, and he hesitantly offered up his hand for Dimitri to tie his necklace around, in long loops like a bracelet.

“I… you didn’t have to do this,” Claude finally told him again as Dimitri worked evenly with the jewelry, marveling at the way the bright silver looked against Claude’s skin.

“I only regret that I did not have a ring to give you… I should have thought ahead.” Dimitri offered a small smile, tilting his head up toward the man still seated above him. “Marriage is… it can be a partnership before anything else. That’s what I intend for this union.”

Claude nodded slowly, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. It really was as simple as that, wasn’t it? Dimitri knew that Claude had no one close to him in his life either, and so there was nothing to really prevent this - nothing except the hesitation of doing something this drastic.

In the end though, Claude nodded, opening his eyes again to meet Dimitri’s own with a small, wondrous smile.

“Very well… I accept your proposal. Now come on,” he laughed softly, “get off that floor before someone sees you.”

Dimitri smiled and moved to stand as Claude reached for a pen to sign.

-

The case and the division of the assets from the Almyran holdings dragged on for two years. The end of it was… understated, anticlimactic, nothing more than a letter addressed to Claude from the court, which spelled out quite plainly that Claude was to be reinstated and his older brother was finally arrested for forging their father’s will.

Which left the two of them in the kitchen preparing dinner, as they had done for years now. Claude was generally the better cook between the two and would often have Dimitri do the simpler tasks of chopping vegetables or bringing him various ingredients. It was nice, a simple rhythm between the two of them that _worked_ , much like the rest of their married life together.

They fit together easily as fast friends and compromising partners. Claude kept his flat, but spent most of his days in Dimitri’s home, where he owned the guest bedroom. They acted like more roommates than marital partners, but that was the arrangement, and it served the both of them just fine.

Except… well, it was going to be over soon. With Claude winning his case, there was no need to keep up this charade. Especially since…

“Do you know when you’ll step back into your company?” Dimitri asked, a question that he hoped sounded innocent enough.

Claude smiled thinly from where he was stirring the rub for their celebratory steaks.

“Probably soon. It’ll take a few weeks to get all of my things in order, and then - well.”

Dimitri nodded. It was better to operate with a timeline, the concrete knowledge of _when_ Claude would be leaving him. The two of them could not operate their respective companies while married, and merging would likely prove to be out of the question.

Claude had gotten what he needed from this marriage. Dimitri had as well - with the company and household in his name, no one could take it from him, even if he were to get divorced.

Which would be soon. It had to be. He told himself over and over again, there was no way to make this work while remaining with Claude. It hadn’t seemed like such a hardship when their inevitable separation was somewhere on the distant horizon, but now that it was an arrow shot away, he suddenly felt hesitant.

He didn’t know the reason for that feeling. The relationship wasn’t romantic, and it wasn’t like they would stop being friends and allies.

But… Claude would stop coming over to his house. Claude would move out of the guest room. Claude would be so much further away.

“I’ve enjoyed this,” he finally said - an admission, but not one which gave too much of himself away.

Claude tilted his head and for a moment, Dimitri felt that maybe he _had_ said too much - but then, Claude’s mouth curved into a soft smile, the kind of smile he offered when he was trying to reassure Dimitri of something, to comfort him through a hard day.

“Me too. You’re an easy guy to be around.”

Dimitri wasn’t sure how to take that. He frowned thoughtfully as he handed Claude the seasoning salt, unsure if he should say more than what he already had. But in the end, what could he tell him? Reiterating how much he liked their relationship only made it more awkward to break it off, to sign that divorce paper and watch Claude drift away from his life.

Claude’s tongue peeked past his lips in concentration as he worked the seasoning, before glancing back up toward Dimitri.

“Can you get the meat? I have it in the fridge.”

Dimitri nodded and moved to do as Claude asked, opening the fridge and searching briefly for the raw steaks. While his back was turned, he heard Claude sigh, but didn’t know quite what that meant. He hesitated with the refrigerator open, unsure if he should say something else, to push the issue somehow, but - what would he say?

_I want to keep being married to you_ , he thought - and startled himself with the intensity of his desire for just that. It wasn’t as if they were romantic, either: Dimitri had taken care to make sure Claude felt safe around him, that he would never try to use their status as newlyweds as an excuse to initiate anything.

But…

“I heard…” Claude started, speaking slowly. Dimitri turned to look at him, closing the fridge behind him and bringing over the meat.

Claude pointedly did not look at him.

“...I heard that the courthouse is pretty backed up. Processing paperwork for a divorce could take months.”

Claude had heard no such thing. Rodrigue - one of the few lawyers for the Blaiddyd corporation who Dimitri trusted enough to tell about the true purpose behind the marriage - had assured him that he could get their divorce processed within the week.

It was a blatant lie, but by now, Dimitri was accustomed to Claude offering up tiny little convenient lies to make the truth a little easier to swallow. This wasn’t ‘tiny’ by any stretch of the imagination, but Dimitri wanted to believe it very badly.

What was the harm? If Claude was trying to find a way out of this, then Dimitri would let him, and he handed over the steak with a soft hum of acknowledgement.

“If that’s the case, then we shouldn’t overload the system any further.”

“I agree!” Claude said, finally glancing toward Dimitri with a little grin. “It’s not like we’re desperate to get away from one another, after all.”

They weren’t. Dimitri moved to wash his hands, watching as Claude began applying the seasoning he’d been working on, and leaned a hip against the countertop when he had turned off the faucet, just watching him work.

If Claude wanted this badly enough to offer up one of his little white lies, then maybe - maybe he wanted more?

Dimitri had never really considered it, despite being married to him for two years. He wanted to act the perfect gentleman and not give Claude reason to mistrust his initial offer. But… if Claude chose to stay close to him, even after they didn’t need one another anymore?

Neither of them had taken lovers and Dimitri knew enough about Claude’s preferences to know that it wasn’t out of the question. So then, all there was left to do, was…

“Maybe we should celebrate. You and I.”

“Isn’t that what we’re already doing?”

Claude looked up at him, his eyes unreadable, the low fluttering of his lashes making it clear that he knew _exactly_ what Dimitri was asking. His hands stilled against the meat he’d been preparing and he looked for all the world as if he was captivated by whatever it was Dimitri would say next.

Dimitri swallowed hard. Forwardness had never been a strong suit of his, but he knew how to be bold in a conference room. Was this any different?

“What I mean is…” He moved then, sliding closer, his eyes on Claude’s for any sort of discomfort - but Claude showed him none, Claude’s shoulders relaxed as Dimitri drew in, commanding, presumptuous.

Dimitri reached out and touched Claude’s lower back, and his body heat felt electric.

“...would you like to go on a date with me?”

Whatever emotional gravitas he thought he had there was immediately ruined; Claude snorted in laughter and leaned to bump his shoulder against Dimitri’s chest, unable to take his hands away from what he was doing.

“Dimitri, we’ve been married for two _years_.”

“What? I mean, yes, but we haven’t -” Dimitri grasped for some sort of rebuttal, taken off guard by Claude’s sudden break from the script he’d had in his mind. “We’ve never…”

“- I know, I know,” Claude told him, laughing as he slipped out from under Dimitri’s shadow and moved to wash his hands. Dimitri turned to watch him, helpless, and Claude simply smiled at him, a cat that’s gotten into the cream. “You’ve been such a gentleman. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted you to sweep me off my feet. For awhile, I thought maybe you weren’t interested, but… well, let’s just say that this has been a very helpful conversation.”

“...you wanted me to…?” Dimitri sputtered, blinking as Claude flicked his hands dry and stepped toward him. Then, his hands were on Dimitri’s chest and they were still damp - Dimitri could feel the wet of them leaking into the fabric of his shirt as Claude leaned heavily against him, smiling as if he was guarding some lovely secret.

“I still want you to.”

All the air in the room was stolen away, trapped in Dimitri’s lungs as he felt Claude’s weight against him, dragged under by Claude’s easy confidence - the kind that he’d tried on for himself just a few moments before, the kind that Claude laughed at when it had been aimed at him.

_I still want you to_. Dimitri’s brain felt like it was working through rusted parts, gears that could barely turn, cranking as he desperately jerked on the handle. What was the next move? What did Claude want from him? What was allowed and what wasn’t, when his husband had his hands on him like that?

“I…”

Claude blinked slowly, his smile fading slightly, though he did his best to be endlessly patient.

“That means now, you know. Right now.”

Dimitri nodded with the instruction before doing as he was told: leaning down, scooping up Claude’s legs, and lifting him quickly, bridal-style, into his arms. Claude made an urgent noise, throwing his arms around Dimitri’s neck, and laughed, clinging to him to keep himself upright.

Claude felt almost weightless in his arms now that Dimitri knew that he wanted to be there. Reassured by his smile, his willingness, and the glint of a silver chain peeking out from under his shirt, Dimitri hitched Claude upward and found himself smiling as well, with Claude’s face only inches from his own.

“Now… about that date?”

Claude’s nose wrinkled - cutely, Dimitri thought, and this close to him, he could see the faintest smattering of freckles on his skin.

“Stop trying to be suave and kiss me.”

_Fair enough_ , he thought, as he leaned down to do exactly that.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you again for the lovely prompt!
> 
> My twitter is [@unraelated](https://twitter.com/unraelated), thank you all for reading!


End file.
